The day the Chromecast was announced, I immediately knew I
wanted to try one, but I wanted to make an informed purchase and not just rush
out and grab one. Surprisingly, the Google product page about Chromecast was
light on any technical details (and still is). I hopped on Google’s IM support
and, although the representative I worked with was very eager to answer my
questions, they simply didn’t have any information available beyond the limited
amount Google had put up on the Chromecast page. They did, however, promote my
questions up a tier into their (email based) Chromecast technical support
queue. They got back to me surprisingly quickly (as I’m sure they must be
getting crushed with an avalanche of information requests about the
Chromecast), with a reply hitting my inbox on July 30. Sorry I didn’t have a
chance to post their response until now. Here it is. By the way, the bit “[t]here
is no delay for Optimized Playback. There is a slight (1-2 second) delay for Casting
a tab,” was in reference to another part of the IM chat that had been forwarded
to them, which had to do with the delay response time between taking an action
when tabcasting (the HDMI over WiFi devices I’ve been testing generally have a
delay ranging from 60-240ms, and I wanted to know where the Chromecast fell in
that range). Despite this IM and email exchange confirming my suspicion that
Chromecast is not a true HDMI over wireless device (screen mirroring or
extension), I’m still intrigued and one is already on order for me (thanks to a
relative that is at least as tech geek chic as me, and ordered one for me
before I had a chance to get this reply even :)
from:
googleplay-support@google.com
to: robertslater@gmail.com
date: Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 1:07 PM
subject: RE: [8-1745000001364] Note
to: robertslater@gmail.com
date: Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 1:07 PM
subject: RE: [8-1745000001364] Note
Hello Robert,
Thank you for contacting Google Play Support! I understand
your concern. Rest assured I'm here to help.
I see that you had some questions about Chromecast
specifications, and your questions were sent to the specialist team, who has
replied with the following information.
There is no delay for Optimized Playback. There is a slight
(1-2 second) delay for Casting a tab. Optimized Playback supports 1080p60 and
5.1 surround. Casting a tab supports 720p and stereo sound.
If you need any additional help, please let me know.
If there is anything further we can assist you with, please
feel free to reply directly to this email or visit our help center at:
…
The Google Play Support Team
